Not being sports-minded, I always consider the sports paraphenalia most useful as weapons or for getting stuff from under the refrigerator.

A double-handed, hard-as-you-can whack at the base of an intruder's neck seems like it could do some harm.

When I lived in Las Vegas, there was an article in the paper about a woman who went down to the corner mini-mart for some bread or milk or something, was only gone a few minutes. A guy apparently watched her leave, went to her apartment, kicked a hole in the door and reached in to unlock it. He hadn't counted on the 10-year-old boy with the baseball bat.

Sue